The Overall State of Sports Gaming

[davidd]

I've recently pondered the maybe somewhat depressing current state of the sports gaming industry when compared to how great it was back in the early-mid 2000's.

I remember when I was in high-school , we literally had at least two different games coming out each year from different developers per sport. The overall success of the industry allowed companies like EA to venture into non-mainstream territory with games like EA Sports Arena Football and College baseball.

Now what do we have?

Pro-football- only Madden and while it's made huge strides over the past two years, there are still things that 2k sports got right over a decade ago that EA STILL hasn't figured out. And with the exclusive rights deal firmly in place, they'll have no reason to up their game anytime in the near future.

College Football- DEAD. At least for the foreseeable future.

Pro-Basketball- 2k is obviously amazing and it's nice to have Live around I guess just so people have a choice.

College Basketball- Dead. And being that 2k and EA cancelled their respective series due to low-sales rather then legal issues as with college football, there's no real glimmer of hope that we'll ever get another college basketball game.

Pro-Baseball- The Show is obviously in a class of it's own, but the fact that there is no baseball game for the One is horribly depressing being that once upon a time ago we had 3-4 different games to choose from for the Ps2,original Xbox, and Gamecube. Unless EA decides to jump back in the fray, I don't foresee this changing any time soon which is very depressing.

Soccer- Probably the most well represented sport in terms of availability of quality licensed games from different developers which are available on all platforms. If you're a big "Futbol" fan, you're in heaven right now

Hockey- EA sports NHL series is maybe a little underrated but obviously needs to improve online. Another one of those genres that could benefit from another company jumping into the fray to develop an alternative title(2k?). I feel like this genre is kind of stagnant right now because of that lack of competition or growth in the sport.

Golf- Actually the outlook for Golf is probably better than some of the more popular sports. The few developers still in the Golf game understand that they have a niche audience and if they're going to turn a profit they'll need to really be in-tune with what their audience wants. The Golf Club is great and I'm eager to see what EA will do with their next outing.

Boxing- Hasn't been a title from a major company in some time now. EA always kind of dominated this genre, so it's strange that they would decide to dump it entirely unless they just feel as though their efforts will be better rewarded by putting these resources towards their UFC title. It maybe just a sign of the times, Boxing is losing it's audience to MMA.

UFC- Only really one title and it's great. I'm always a fan of options however but since UFC is dominating the MMA landscape, I don't really know if another company would have much to gain from creating say a Bellator video game.

Tennis- DEAD. With no discussion of bringing it back at least right now which is shocking considering how popular the sport is in Japan. The fact that Japan still is heavily invested in the sport though gives me hope that we could see another Tennis game at some point in the near future.

Nascar- actually the future is very bright with a new developer and company taking the NASCAR rights.

College baseball-DEAD

Rugby- growing interest in the sport is creating options for this genre which is a good thing.

What are your thoughts? Do you think sports gaming will ever reach a level similar to the early/mid 2000's again? or has the rising price of developing games along with exclusive deals permanently damaged the industry

[aross]

I hate how sports games mostly cater to people who just want to play against some other person online for 30 minutes in a quick game.

In my opinion the fun behind sports video games in the simulation aspect. Things like dynasty mode, manager/promoter mode, or career mode. 2k does a decent job of this, but EA Sports is usually awful in that regard. I don't mind arcade style sports games, but those are more just for quick fun. I enjoyed when there were games like NFL Blitz and NBA Showtime honestly more than some sports titles right now.

But this is true of video games in general. There are almost no games where 2 people can play in the same room, just over the internet. And you have to pay for additional content which is ridiculous if you spend $60 or whatever the current price of games is.

All you can do is vote with your wallet and hang on to good games like NFL 2k5, College Hoops 2k8, etc.

I recently gave my console to my younger brother, so the only games I play at this point are at friends' places.

I have more fun with text based simulation games at this point because they are deeper and require more thought. They give you more control and they are cheaper. If only they could combine the best aspects of both, there could be a truly great sports video game.